Could Britain be headed for a ‘DIY recession’?

Could Britain be headed for a ‘DIY recession’?

Could Brexit cause a ‘DIY recession’?
The chancellor of the Exchequer warns that Britain could face a year-long “DIY recession” if the country votes to leave the European Union.

George Osborne and David Cameron will present a Treasury analysis of the short-term impact of Brexit on the UK economy today, according to a Guardian report. The analysis claims that the GDP will be lower after two years than it would be if Britain votes to remain. The report also predicts a spike in inflation, with house price growth hit by 10%.

However, Tory MP and former work pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith has already said the report is dishonest and “deeply biased,” the Guardian reported. But Osborne says the report is just reiterating warnings already given by the Bank of England and the IMF. He pointed out that just a few years ago, Britain was hit by the greatest recession since World War 2.

“Every part of our country suffered. The British people have worked so hard to get our country back on track. Do we want to throw it all away?” Osborne said. “With exactly one month to go to the referendum, the British people must ask themselves this question: can we knowingly vote for a recession?”

Former Labour shadow minister Chuka Umunna said that a lack of action since race riots 15 years ago has caused “cracks in our communities” to widen, according to a Sky News report. He also warned that the current immigration debate focuses “almost exclusively on numbers, with too little attention paid to how we integrate people once they settle here.”

"We're now at a crossroads,” Umunna said. “If we don't take action to bridge the divides in our communities, they will grow into gulfs and there is a real risk the British people could respond, not by seeking to solve our problems together, but by seeking to blame one another and look to 'Donald Trump style' solutions.”

Ambulance delays, mistakes by 999 handlers have caused 35 deaths in past 5 years
Ambulance delays and mistakes by 999 call handlers have led to 35 patient deaths in the last five years, according to a Guardian report.

Coroners in England and Wales have issued warnings that a lack of resources, the inability to respond quickly enough and poor care have caused or contributed to the deaths – including a nine-month-old baby, two children, a student nurse and a mother-to-be. In some cases, ambulances did not arrive for hours after the initial call for help, the Guardian reported.

“We want all patients to get the highest standards of care – and anything short of that is unacceptable. We take all observations made by coroners very seriously,” a Department of Health spokesman said in response to the reports.

Former BHS owner could help draft new pension fund rules – MP
The man who said former BHS owner Sir Philip Green should be stripped of his knighthood now says the tycoon could help draft new pension laws, according to a Guardian report.

Frank Field, the MP co-chairing a parliamentary inquiry into the sale of the troubled department store, said there needed to be a new legal framework to defend against pension schemes being left underfunded. Field said Green, who sold BHS for £1 and left behind a £571 million deficit in its pension fund, could be helpful in creating the legislation.

“I mean that quite seriously. He’s an intelligent man,” Field said. “He can be a key player in telling us what is the best deal we can get for many of the thousands of occupational pension schemes remaining – many of which are in big trouble.”

Field had earlier said that Green should be stripped of his knighthood unless he made a significant contribution toward the BHS pension fund deficit, the Guardian reported.

Advice to eat more fat is ‘irresponsible,’ doctors say
Well, it does sound too good to be true. Public Health England says that recent advice from the National Obesity Forum to eat more fat is irresponsible and potentially deadly, according to a BBC News report.

The forum said that promoting low-fat food has had “disastrous health consequences.” But Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist for Public Health England, and other experts have roundly criticised the report, saying it cherry-picked evidence.

Since the referendum on 23 June 2016, there has been a lot of uncertainty in many sectors, but for the UK's insurance and long-term savings industry, the largest in the EU and third largest worldwide, the shockwaves are likely to be felt for some time